In 2017 stakeholders involved with management of health in the Brachycephalic breeds were engaged in an ongoing dialog. Addressing the growing popularity of breeds like the Pug, French Bulldog and Bulldog in the UK is reflected in the Brachycephalic Working Group's (BWG) framework for a partnership approach to improving brachycephalic dog health and welfare.
Quote from the BWG...
"In recent years, the popularity of some brachycephalic breeds has risen hugely in the UK, to the point where the high demand for some brachycephalic breeds has imposed further welfare problems around poor quality breeding practices and both legal and illegal importation of puppies to supply a booming UK market for these dogs. Realisation by owners of the reality of owning one of these breeds, along with waning novelty value often means that these dogs are relinquished to recue centres which further fuels a growing welfare concern.
This complex phenomenon involving inherent health issues of individual dogs, welfare issues around high-volume breeding and importation practices, and high levels of relinquishment have conspired to create a brachycephalic welfare issue that is now recognised as one of the most pressing welfare issues for dogs in the UK."
UK-KC Registrations for 3 Top Twenty Breeds
The Kennel Club registrations sources:
Top 20 Breed Registrations - - 2013-2014
Top 20 Breed Registrations - - 2015-2016
Key issues on Brachycephalic health have been featured over the past several years in veterinary journals and in the mainstream Press, on Facebook pages, and in educational articles, presentations and materials on the UK Kennel Club's and UK Breed Club's websites. In March of 2017 The Kennel Club launched a Learning Resource for Health Concerns in Brachycephalic Breeds.
In December of 2017 a Kennel Club Press Release addressed Brachycephalic welfare.
Welfare crisis looms for flat faced dog breeds commonly used in advertising
(Internal) kc press release 2017 welfare crisis looms flat-faced breeds.pdf

"Brachycephalic syndrome (BS) describes the result of hereditary abnormalities occurring in dogs and cats from selective breeding for shorter heads and dorsorotation of the face. Although respiratory problems are the best recognised of the problems associated with BS, the problem is not limited to the respiratory tract, writes Kathryn M Pratschke, North East Veterinary Referrals, Northumberland Business Park West, UK"

"The Kennel Club has launched a Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) online learning resource on the Kennel Club Academy, to provide free and easily accessible education to those with an interest in BOAS and the research being undertaken at Cambridge University with brachycephalic dog breeds."

Club du Bouledogue Français
CBF ACTION FOR THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THE FRENCH BULLDOG
CURRENT SITUATION AND PROSPECTS
See the article prepared for DogWellNet on the work of the French Bulldog Club for maintaining the health and well-being of the breed.
This article was validated by the committee of the association at its meeting of November 27, 2016.

THIS IS AN OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE - YOU MAY READ THE ARTICLE AND DOWNLOAD THE PDF FROM THE PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE.
A representative study of Danish owners of four small dog breeds
P. Sandøe, S. V. Kondrup1, P. C. Bennett, B. Forkman, I Meyer, H. F. Proschowsky,J. A. Serpell, T. B. Lund
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0172091 February 24, 2017
Breeds in this study include: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, French Bulldog, Chihuahua and Cairn Terrier.
Abstract "A number of dog breeds suffer from welfare problems due to extreme phenotypes and high levels of inherited diseases but the popularity of such breeds is not declining. Using a survey of owners of two popular breeds with extreme physical features (French Bulldog and Chihuahua), one with a high load of inherited diseases not directly related to conformation (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), and one representing the same size range but without extreme conformation and with the same level of disease as the overall dog population (Cairn Terrier), we investigated this seeming paradox. We examined planning and motivational factors behind acquisition of the dogs, and whether levels of experienced health and behavior problems were associated with the quality of the owner-dog relationship and the intention to reprocure a dog of the same breed. Owners of each of the four breeds (750/breed) were randomly drawn from a nationwide Danish dog registry and invited to participate. Of these, 911 responded, giving a final sample of 846. There were clear differences between owners of the four breeds with respect to degree of planning prior to purchase, with owners of Chihuahuas exhibiting less. Motivations behind choice of dog were also different. Health and other breed attributes were more important to owners of Cairn Terriers, whereas the dog's personality was reported to be more important for owners of French Bulldogs and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels but less important for Chihuahua owners. Higher levels of health and behavior problems were positively associated with a closer owner-dog relationship for owners of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Chihuahuas but, for owners of French Bulldogs, high levels of problems were negatively associated with an intention to procure the same breed again. In light of these findings, it appears less paradoxical that people continue to buy dogs with welfare problems."
The "study aimed to answer the following questions:
1) Do motivations for acquiring a dog, and pre-purchase owner characteristics, differ between owners of the four breeds?
2) Do levels of expenditure on veterinary treatments and health and behavior problems experienced differ for owners of the four dog breeds?
3) Do motivations prior to acquisition, and owners' experiences of health and behavior problems with their dogs, explain differences in the quality of the owner-dog relationship between the four breeds?
4) Do intentions of acquiring the same breed the next time a dog is to be procured change as a function of experienced health and behavior problems?"

Thinking about bringing a Pug, a French Bulldog or Cavalier King Charles Spaniel into your life.
These breeds are becoming quite popular throughout the world - they aren't big dogs and they can be terrific companions, fun and delightfully sweet - but that's not all there is to these dogs. No dog breed is perfect and some purebred dogs have health challenges - the brachycephalic breeds are no exception.
Best to find out what is important to know about purchasing and keeping one of these types of dogs...the dogs with adorable 'smooshed' faces.
Brachycephalic Breeds Health and Research Learning Resources
"A range of free and insightful resources, including films, focusing on research with experts from different fields of canine health and welfare, with an in-depth look at canine diseases, genetics and conformation-related health concerns.
Each film comes with useful learning resources and suggested further reading including publications and papers. This collection of learning resources is FREE. Just add to your cart and check out for full free access."
Seriously... The Kennel Club is offering a great learning resource for free that will
help you make informed choices.

French Bulldogs and more: Taking the temperature on brachycephalic health
March 8, 2017
Bringing big data to bear on health concerns
"In 2013, Nationwide pet health insurance, then operating under the name of Veterinary Pet Insurance® or VPI®, decided to use its peerless database of pet health insurance claims to develop both medical and financial studies.
The goal was to produce analyses that would assist pet owners and members of the veterinary community in making sound decisions around pet health and the business of veterinary medicine."

"Following the Swedish Kennel Club (SKK) Symposium on Brachycephalic Dogs in February 2016, the SKK issued a press release describing the background, current and future actions related to brachycephalics. See article and press release on DogWellNet.com. Included in that report was a statement on the breeding of brachycephalic dogs and strategies to improve the health status. It was indicated that actions must be taken with cooperation across many stakeholder groups."
Here we provide links to information posted by the Norwegian Kennel Club and The Finnish Pug Club on approaches to and initiatives for management of health and welfare in brachycephalic breeds.
The Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian Kennel Clubs are part of The Nordic Kennel Union.

There is much to ponder when considering breeding dog ethical questions including:
There is always another perspective to hear and side to discuss related to welfare and ethics.
Although there is a middle ground, those with the loudest voice and most extreme views appear to influence the breeding dog debate.
Veterinarians seem to be under-represented in this public forum.
Exploring options: One Welfare’s Brachycephalic Dog Scenario highlights some of the health challenges associated with breeding brachycephalic dogs. It portrays a situation that veterinarians in small animal practice face — advising a client on surgical correction of anatomic abnormalities of brachycephalic breeds — elongated soft palate, stenotic nares, a hypoplastic trachea, and everted laryngeal saccules.

It is great to see the increased momentum for addressing issues of health and welfare in brachycephalics around the world. IPFD hopes to facilitate collaborative international efforts across multiple stakeholder groups. It is clear that this issue is a global one and requires a coordinated approach to be truly effective. Perhaps what is also needed is a recognition that these are complex challenges, with no easy solution.
The issues involve not only medicine and science, but are fraught with emotion and influenced by long-held beliefs. Aspects of human-dog interactions both enrich and complicate the situation. Success is most likely to come from positive collaborative efforts where all stakeholders take responsibility for their own roles and work together on common goals, rather than trying to criticize others and apportion blame.
There is a need for information and evidence, compiled and interpreted in a logical and unbiased way. There is a need to share resources, experience and expertise, with reduction of redundant efforts. There is need for courage, as this is a challenging and evocative issue. But there is also a need for compassion - for the dogs, first of all, but also for owners who may not understand; for breeders who did not set out to purposely create problems; to veterinarians who may struggle with conflict of interest serving their business, their clients and their patients; for dog show judges, many of whom struggle for a balanced approach; and more.
The controversies and challenges represent an opportunity now to work together to enhance the health, well-being and welfare of dogs and to support human-dog interactions.
See below for a summary of and links to recent international efforts and resources. We will continue to edit and update this document.

UK: Bio-Acquisition Research Collaboration (BARC): A facility which helps bring researchers and clinicians together with regards to research projects, allowing more collaboration of ideas, information, and providing a platform to advertise requests for required samples.

The attached paper describes a preliminary study done at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of The University of Helsinki at the request of and in collaboration with The Finnish Pug Club. The study aimed to determine whether aspects of clinical history and symptoms or other evaluations could differentiate between dogs identified by their owners as 'good' or 'bad' breathers. It is a small study - 20 Pugs in total - but the findings are interesting and have been used by the Finnish Pub Club and the Finnish Kennel Club (FKK) to inform work on health issues in this breed.

A walking test developed for brachycephalic dog breeds will be adopted by the Finnish Pug Dog Club. The Club has included the test in their requirements for breeding dogs. The requirement of passing the walking test will come into force when tests can be carried out all over Finland.
The Finnish Kennel Club (FKC) and the University of Helsinki arranged a news conference and a colloquium for the breed clubs of the brachycephalic breeds earlier this week. Preliminary results on a study examining walking test results on Pugs and Bulldogs were presented. The results showed that the test is able to distinguish between good and bad breathers.
The FKC and the University researchers will develop more detailed instructions concerning the performing of the test. The test is similar as the one used in the Netherlands for the Bulldogs. The dog will pass the test if he/she is able to walk 1000 meters at most 12 minutes and is also able to recover during the next 15 minutes.The test will become an official Finnish Kennel Club health test, and the results will be recorded in the FKC breeding database.
Other breeds may be included in the test in the fall. At least French Bulldogs are participating, and interest has been shown in other breeds as well.

Earlier this year SKK arranged a conference on the short-headed dogs. The content of the conference has now been reviewed by a working group and resulted in a statement and strategies for future work on the issue. May of 2016 -- the SKK has posted several news releases pertaining to outlining management strategies for 'snub-nosed' breeds as follow-ups to the February conference.
VIDEOS of the conference presentations are available on SKK's YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJNEE6TcK5b1MGMuTbXjsDZS3g4OIUsnA

Developments in Sweden in the fall of 2015 serve to highlight the challenges of addressing health and welfare in 'flat-faced dogs', i.e. The Brachycephalic Issue. We follow them here, chronologically as they serve to exemplify the problems and, hopefully, to inform others working in this area.

Many of the articles in this section of DogWellNet.com on The Brachycephalic Issue focus on challenges and efforts at breed club, kennel club, national and international levels and across diverse stakeholder groups - breeders, breeding advisors, veterinarians, researchers, regulators and others. Many visitors to this site will be well-acquainted with the physical, physiological and welfare issues in individual dogs and for breed populations. In this article, we point to some resources that are available describing the problems that can arise because of the brachycephalic conformation. There are many articles online - below we highlight a few that have useful information and a variety of approaches.

Continuing our series on The Brachycephalic Issue: Today Rowena Packer and others have published the following study: Impact of Facial Conformation on Canine Health: Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (Rowena M. A. Packer, Anke Hendricks, Michael S. Tivers, Charlotte C. Burn; [PLOS] Published: October 28, 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137496 ). The study concludes that shorter muzzles are associated with increased risk of health problems (Brachycephalic Airway Sydrome), even within affected breeds and offers a good discussion of practical implications and recommendations. As you will see at the end of the abstract (below), the authors suggest that "breeding organisations should actively discourage exaggeration of this high-risk conformation in breed standards and the show ring." Numerous articles on DogWellNet.com outline work that has been ongoing by some of our Partner organizations, e.g. the Breed Specific Instructions program (e.g., Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian Kennel Clubs); Finland Pug Study; work in Germany by the French Bulldog club and efforts by The Kennel Club in the UK, including Breed Watch. We are in the process of assembling a further catalog of efforts in this area. IPFD and DogWellNet.com will continue to compile and share resources on/for: evidence for the extent, prevalence and severity of issues of health and welfare, efforts - who is doing what, where to address issues, andevidence on what is working, challenges and barriers to moving forward. The study by Packer, et al. is timely and important. DogWellNet.com will be compiling and commenting further on this and similar research, in an effort to continue to assemble evidence pertinent to the Brachycephalic Issue. This image, from their study shows not only how they measured but also the extreme variation of muzzle length in 3 breeds.

In this section we will post links to ongoing efforts to address health and welfare in brachycephalic breeds by IPFD Partners and other stakeholders. We will include material to support international collaborations.
Click here to see an index - more brachy articles.

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